It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Between feeling icky and having my sister's family here this week, and Thanksgiving, errands, etc. I just have not made it to the computer much. I have had so much on my mind that I wanted to write down...so once again, this will be random, but I just want to make sure it's here.

Esther and Nathan (my sister and her husband) came on Wednesday night. The kids were SO excited to see their little girl Hannah! We had a pretty relaxing Thanksgiving...aside from having it potluck style, I also did most of the prep ahead of time, so it cut down on the big day's duties.

After the big dinner, we came home and got the kids in bed, and put in the movie White Christmas...okay, the movie was put in, but I fell asleep. :) I did wake up later and was up much of the night, so I did my one bit of Christmas shopping--looking for a wireless printer. I found one for cheaper than the Black Friday advertised price and was SO EXCITED not to have to brave the cold the next morning.

I know that some people love Black Friday. I wish I could. I do. I know there is a lot of excitement that goes with it, and there are some amazing deals. But at the same time, I have had so many bad experiences where I have seen the absolute worst be brought out in people just because of a great deal. So online shopping works for me in this case! :)

Esther, Jenny, Crystal, and I went out to a LATE breakfast at Bob Evans once the black Friday rush was over...oh it was so good. I have decided that no matter how poor you are, once in a while you just need to treat yourself to a good breakfast out! We made a put stop at Walmart on the way home and grabbed a couple things, and called it a day. I went home and slept again. :) (Did I tell you I have been exhausted lately!?)

Esther and Nathan provided us with an opportunity for a great night out--so we took them up on their offer to stay and put the kids in bed while we went to dinner and a movie. Brandon and I haven't been to a movie together in YEARS. Literally. Like, our recollection of the last movie seen in a theater together was The Lakehouse....circa 2006...Ya, loooong time.

I have been DYING to see The Blind Side. EXCELLENT movie! It was a great show and truly a treat!! I CANNOT give enough thanks to my sister and her husband for watching the kids for us--it's really rare that we get to go out and come home to the kids in bed (even though we still had a straggler when we came home)...

Saturday...Saturday...ran errands with my sister, took some family pictures for her, had a low key day. There was so much we wanted to get done, and hardly got to scratch the surface on getting to it! We spent most of our last hours together this morning making a dress for Hannah and talking. Never enough time when you have a visitor and I am so glad they came!

At any rate, it was such a whirlwind of a week. It's hard to believe we have a new week ahead of us and that we are heading right into December.

Our Christmas stuff is up, the lights on the tree, and I just love to sit back and bask in the glow. I have been thinking a lot about Christmas presents lately...and how our family does Christmas. All these years I have just bought presents throughout the year. That's how we do things...that's how we can afford it The kids never noticed...they were young enough and were happy with whatever. But lately, as the kids have seen the toy ads and such, I hear them mention things they want or what they are going to ask for and it has hit me that I can't give them those things. I just can't. Their gifts are already bought and ready to wrap. Most of them bought on clearance...our budget is tight. No wiggle room this year...

And I know Christmas shouldn't be focused on presents.

I don't want it to be. But let's face it...it's part of the deal.

And my heart breaks knowing that there is no such thing as a granted wishlist this year. While I am sure that Christmas day will be wonderful and the kids will be thrilled with their gifts, I just got thinking about the future...will they be disappointed if they never get what's "on their list"??

I would love to know how you deal with this...are you a pre-purchaser at sales throughout the year? Do you buy throughout the year but budget some money for one requested item? Or do you just wait and see what your kids want?

Always a dilema... :) I would love some feedback on this...if you have made it this far in my loooong post.

But at least I got it written down, recorded, done. :)

Ready to start this new week now. Happy Sunday!

Giving Thanks and Thanksgiving.

It has been a good day.

Family, food, friends.

Did I mention FOOD. Oh such good food. :)

I will post pictures later, but I just needed to say that I truly feel blessed. I am grateful for my family, my freedoms, my religion, my life. There is so much good...

I love this time of year. While I wish we could feel this magic all through the year, it doesn't always work that way...so I love when this time comes around again. It serves as such a good reminder...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Turkey trot and Tuesday Thoughts

Today I took the boys to cheer Jenna on during her school's Turkey Trot...where they ran around the block and the winners took home a turkey... :)

Jenna did not win. She wasn't even close. I felt so bad. Could it be that she has her dad's love of running and my lack of skill?

Either way, she was a good sport and looked so darn cute.

It is SO nice to know that school is done for the week...no more driving her to school or picking her up. Time for her to play with the boys...and to be together as family. So excited.

Speaking of family, my sister Esther is coming to visit tomorrow. Is my house ready? No. And quite frankly it probably won't be tip top when she DOES get here. I have learned that I am not a miracle worker. :) And yet, my house needs a miracle right now....

I have debated for a long time about sharing a bunch of stuff that has been going on. I have used this blog for so long to document so much about our family and my feelings. But I have had some things that I just didn't feel belonged here yet. Hence the multiple days between posts when my previous pattern was at least one a day. :)

But today it occurred to me that I didn't have to lay it all out there yet, but could at least say how I have felt...which will hopefully explain why often I don't know what to say when it's time update the blog.

The past several months I have felt sick. Along with a never-ending cough, a big part has been morning sickness sick. It has been terrible. Honestly, a good majority of my days are filled with ickiness...

...the need to eat or else...the need to eat what sounds good OR ELSE...the dry-heaving...

Oh it has totally turned me upside down. I feel so worn out and frustrated.

Frustrated because sickness like this should be associated with having babies...and let me make it clear that I AM NOT PREGNANT. But it's the worst thing to be going through all these same symptoms...and have no real reason to show for it.

The very time in my life when I am truly trying to change my habits and eat better, and BE better, I find myself facing a wall of stomach-calming carbohydrates...and I hate it. My desire is there to eat different, but my body physically just can't without feeling nasty inside.

To make matters worse, after finally seeing the Dr. I was put on some medication...that makes me even more nauseous.

Yay.

And it makes me exhausted. So exhausted that many nights I have fallen in bed at 9:00...or had to have a nap to make it through the day. This is so not like me...

I feel like my body has been taken over by a diagnosis.

And some nights I have wanted to say nothing except...

Tonight I feel like crap.

Today I couldn't bring myself to put real pants on...so I wore yoga pants all day...and laid on the couch and watched TV while trying not to vomit.

Today I felt so on edge...so grumpy. So not myself. Because I just am not lately.

So there you have it.

I am trying to be optimistic and get over this nausea...hoping to see a light at the end of the tunnel and for all the other symptoms I have to work themselves out...and I am sure it all will.

But for now, if there is a night or two that I just post a one-line downer, you'll know why...well, kind of why...at least for right now.

Happy Tuesday.

Randomly Random Saturday night thoughts.

Some people blog about milestones their children complete...or about buying homes or completing school....

Strange as it sounds, I consider the following achievement as equally successful...


I cleared all of this....

out of here....

And it was monumental...

HOW, HOW, HOW did I ever let my purse get so bad? I wish I could answer that...but the fact is, I saved my receipts and stuffed every paper someone handed me into the zippered pockets and between other important papers.

And as I was cleaning it out, I felt totally lame.

But it's organized and so clean now! I LOVE IT! It was yet another step in my process to regain control over my life and organizational skills.

Other steps I have taken?

Christmas cards are ordered and here, ready to be addressed.

Desk has been cleaned off, baskets purchased to help neatly sort the things I do need to keep there.

Plans are in place for how to secure some additional short term storage on the main floor.

I have a calendar on the fridge now...and a planner in my purse...and sticky notes (which are my lifesaver).

I have felt SO MUCH BETTER.

I will have to document my system after I get a couple more things in place. But so far, so good...

In other news, we FINALLY got a family picture taken today. After all the sessions I have done for others, we finally had our chance and hopefully will have some updated pics for grandparents, etc. soon! I am so excited to see them...and to finish up the sessions I have done for everyone else this year. :)

Am going to go join our family movie night now...pumpkin pie cake in the oven, pizza for dinner, and Ice Age 3 in the DVD player. :)

Happy Saturday!

Wicked...take 2

Last night I got to go on a super fabulous GIRL'S NIGHT OUT to see Wicked...AGAIN. I loved it when Brandon and I saw it the first time, and so when I heard it was coming again, I arranged to buy a big bulk section of tickets for a GREAT price and a BUNCH (like, 30-40) of us went out on the town to see this Spectacular musical.

If you have not seen it....DO. :)

I turned my taxi (a.k.a. carseat loaded minivan) into a short limo for 6, and filled it with a bunch of cute women and fun conversation.

The theater was beautiful, all decorated for Christmas, and the energy in the air was captivating...oh, how I love being at the theater. The clapping, cheering, theatrics, music...I love it all.

Love girl's night out. Love Wicked.

And I will once again, love listening to the soundtrack for the next month solid. :)

Happy Thursday!

That "in your face" feeling....

I am a big Craigslist kind of girl. I love to buy stuff on there and sell stuff there...it's a great resource.

Well last week I listed a little cottage we had that we were no longer using, and within a few hours I had a response and commitment to buy it. The woman who came to pick it up took it home and a couple hours later I got a nasty email from her accusing me of selling broken toys and including with her accusations a string of swear words.

I was stunned. First off, if you know me, you would know I would never intentionally sell something broken and try to hide that fact. I have disclosed several flaws in other items because it is how I would want to be treated. Secondly, she flat out accused me and insisted that she knew that I KNEW it was "broken". Not once did she say "hey, I don't know if you knew, but there was a piece inside that was broken..." Nope. Just a flat out criminal case against me.

I emailed her back and told her that I had replaced that broken piece before and would be happy to call--to which she emailed back insisted I couldn't have replaced it because the company supposedly never carried replacement pieces and I was a liar.

This went back and forth for a bit, and my anger and frustration grew. I was so ticked off that I was believed to be some liar and cheat and not even allowed to make things right...and eventually she said not to ever contact her again.

So I called the company myself to see what they would say. They opened my file from last year (proving that I DID order the piece...not that the Craigslist lady believed me or anything) and that the item had since been discontinued and replacement items could not be ordered at this point. HOWEVER, because of the inconvenience to me, they would be sending me an item that equaled the value of the "broken" item. (which brand new retailed $80...don't worry, I never pay full price!!)

I was really surprised. And I have to admit I was happy...happy that I knew what the truth was and that because she had ZERO tact or humility (and clearly either didn't talk to the right company or lied to me instead), she shortchanged herself a brand new toy.

So, our new TOY came today....

Even though we will end up selling it to get some much needed money, I still felt that bit of 100% human "in your face" feeling towards the woman who totally wrecked my day last week...and it felt terribly good... :)

Mongolian BBQ...and a date!

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, in between the 3 photo shoots I did, Brandon and I got to get away on a little date. We ran across this Mongolian BBQ place on our trip to Brandywine Falls a few months ago and I have been so anxious to go back and try it out...hoping it was like the Mongolian grill back home.... (oh how I miss that place!)

Verdict.

It will never quite be home.

But it was good.

And it came with a HUGE buffet of other foods...American food, Chinese food, ribs, chicken, rice, fruits, veggies, bread, etc.

And it was fun to watch them cook our food on the round grill...just like back home...

And most of all, it was time away from the kids and time to just visit with Brandon.

And any time to do that is rated A+ in my book.

Jerod and Shelley - sneak peak

Jerod and Shelley! Here ya go!! A quick sneak peak of what is to come. :)

Tyson and Lauren...sneak peak!

It was such a beautiful day, and so I packed in the photo shoots...here's a sneak peak for another family with a funny little 2 year old and a newborn baby! :)

Roni and Lee--sneak peak!

This was such a fun photo shoot...not only did we get to go to my favorite cemetery (LOL)but we also checked out this old, abandoned warehouse that was really cool! So Roni and Lee...here's a small sneak peak of the pics we got! It's going to be hard to narrow this one down!! :)

Seriously? Since Wednesday?

Geesh. I am having a serious bloggers block or something. That and I have been super busy...

Just can't believe so many days have passed in between posts.

I have had a few random things on my mind lately...

The other day I was reading from one of my family magazines...you know the ones that give advice on how to raise kids, etc.

I came to a point in this particular article where the author wrote, "face it. Teens are going to have sex lives."

I was stunned.

I recognize that teenagers are doing a lot more than they used to...I understand that it's a different "era"...I GET that kids are growing up different with the early introduction to technology...

But I would like to think that now is not the time to just throw our hands up and say that kids are going to choose that way no matter what, so why worry about teaching otherwise...I would think that if more teens are choosing that type of lifestlye, it would be the time to stand up and work harder to teach values and morals and the sanctity of intimacy in marriage.

Call me naive....go ahead...

But I just cannot sit by and assume that my children will all choose that path. My point is not to CONTROL, as that would defeat our efforts to lead by example. But I guess I just hope that we are doing the very things now that will teach our children for later...instill those values so that they KNOW teenage sex in any form is wrong without us being by their side every day saying so.

........

kind of a heavy topic to start off with....

also on my mind....

HEALTHY SNACKS AND MEALS...

I am wondering if any of you have any low calorie, high impact snacks or meals you would like to share. A link to a blog that has some would be awesome...or sharing your own....what has worked for you?? I have been really trying to find things our whole family can eat as part of our healthier lifestyle...been working on that. :)

SEWING...

I am working on such a fun sewing project for the kids for Christmas....although I don't know if can wait till Christmas to give it to them! It is seriously the EASIEST project ever and even a beginning sewer could knock this out! I will post pics soon...going to finish one this weekend.

LIFE...

Ya know. I thought I had a lot of things in life under control. But lately a kink has been thrown into my perfect plan...actually lots of kinks. And I have to say it has really stressed me out. I KNOW that things will work out...but it's really hard letting go of set timings for things we thought would be part of the plan.

Just trying to trade my vision for a view from higher ground.

And sometimes the stubborn part of me just doesn't want to let go of what's comfortably in my line of sight.

:)

Happy Saturday. It's going to be a beautiful day here today...high 60's and sunshine. yay!

25 pounds of meat later...

And I have 13 freezer bags full of meal size portions of cooked lean ground beef mixed with ground turkey, and a lot of boiled and chopped chicken breast.

My new freezer is feeling more full by the day. I LOVE IT.

Met a friend today in person...we live in the same area and have only ever communicated via internet. It's so fun to put a person to a name! :)

I've had a sore throat and the cough that won't quit, so I made up a batch of my creamy chicken noodle soup. Oh it was so good....yum....

Finished editing 2 more photo sessions. Hooray.

Got a great bunch of deals at the store...which cannot be revealed because some of them are Christmas presents. Just know it was a rockin' deal and I am so excited.

Spent some time with Kaden today while Spencer slept. He is such a funny little guy. He just chatted about everything, and he tries to be SO funny. He's like his own stand up comedian. LOVE THAT BOY!

Dropped Jenna off early, and made it to Speech therapy with the boys early. LOVE not fighting rush hour traffic.

Beautiful sunshine today. And the rest of the week.

Good day to wipe out yesterday....and I am so glad.

Sometimes I just feel sad....

Sometimes I just feel sad...no rhyme or reason...I just do.

Sometimes it's something someone says...or something someone does, regardless of the intention...sometimes it's just me needing to feel sad and pour it all out in a bucket of tears.

I guess it was a mix of all of those today...And so sad is how I feel tonight.

It's a good thing it's almost bedtime...and I can sleep of this dreary feeling and wake up with a sunnier outlook tomorrow...

My new freezer is HOT stuff!

I could hardly sleep last night, knowing that my new freezer would be on it's way. Our former freezer had served us well for 2 1/2 years. It was super cheap when we bought it. It lived a good life and fought a good fight. But several months ago it gave up the ghost....only I wasn't willing to let it go quite yet. And so, week after week I took a hammer to the ice build up and tried to establish some regularity to the freezing cycle...but I found it was in vain and our food had spoiled. The freezer was rendered useless and we were on the hunt for another used one.

BUT...I couldn't find one...not within our price range...within the size specifications we needed. I was frustrated.

I got looking online...researched stores...checked out the scratch and dent section...and finally I stumbled upon our new beauty.

When the delivery men came to haul my beast away, they were a bit upset because the blasted freezer was filled with heavy ice. HEAVY ice. I couldn't defrost it or I would have flooded my basement. :)

They were nice enough to give it a try and get it out of my house anyway...HEROES, MY HEROES! They had to leave it on the tree lawn...and yes, some random person came and took it only a few hours later. :)

The free haul away of our old freezer was worth our freezer's weight in gold....

Good bye rusty old freezer...

And HELLLLLO brand spankin' new beauty....

He's got hinges of steel...and he's got such shiny armor...

He has great control....
And look at those CURVES!
And our new freezer is ORGANIZED. Total dream... :)

I think I'm in loooove. :)

__ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

If you are in the market for a new freezer, here's how I got our mega deal.

Home Depot had the exact same model they had in their store but online it was $30 CHEAPER and it included FREE delivery and haul away of our old appliance. CHA-CHING. So, the online price was $169. I went through www.bing.com (a cash back website) to purchase it and got an additional $10 off. At the same time, my computer is set up through UPROMISE and so we got an additional 2% off. Our grocery store gives .10 off per gallon of gas with every $50 you spend there, so I ran to the store and bought Home Depot Gift cards there (once I bought my gas, it ended up saving me about $6.00...hey, 6 bucks is still 6 bucks!)

At this point I was totalling about $150.00...which I thought was a pretty good deal considering the cheapest one I could find in the store was just about $200...

WELL, then Home Depot messed up the delivery date. It was really unfortunate...and I was bummed. But after telling them they needed to compensate me for the wait, they offered me an additional 10% off the purchase price. I swallowed my anger and accepted my additional percentage off...which also lowered my taxes...

All said and done, I paid about $144 with tax...

That said, I have got to give credit where credit is due. I know a freezer is a silly thing to pray to find, but this is something we use all the time. We stock up on bulk meat and veggie sales, we make meals ahead and freeze them, and all these things save me time and money. This was important to me. And ultimately, Heavenly Father knew that. And he knew we didn't have a lot of money to spend.

The delay in the delivery date is absolutely a blessing in disguise. Sure, it was only $17 or $18 dollars cheaper, but to us, THAT COUNTS.

Am thankful to know we are being looked after...for the big stuff in life...and the little things too.

Hello Gorgeous...

WEATHER that is....the weather has been BEAUTIFUL the past few days.

Friday, Brandon had a short day so we decided to go to the Science Museum as a family. Of course, any time with Brandon is fun...and the Science Museum is always a big hit. We love to take advantage of our museum pass as much as possible. :)

Today. Was. AWESOME.

Warm breeze. Sunshine. Long walk along the Lake Erie towpath. Hand holding. Kids Smiling. Leaf collecting. Perfect Afternoon.

Jenny, Travis, and Grace went with us on our walk to collect leaves...last year we went and got GIGANTIC Leaves and were hoping to do that again this year...but we were too late. The spectacle had already taken place and we were left with the dried and crumpled remains.

But it was beautiful nonetheless.

(p.s. Spencer is giving us his best ROAR. It's pretty good. If only you could hear that picture)

I love this area. I especially love this area in the Fall. And to be very honest, the thought of leaving here makes me so sad...whenever that day comes. I have come to love and appreciate so much about the seasons and changes and the very show that Nature puts on for us.

I applaud...I shout out for an encore.

Once our walk came to an end, our party began.

Famous Holloway pizza to be made.

Root beer to sip.

A movie to watch.

Pretty sure I could handle this kind of day a million times over. :)

Up late. Can't sleep.

It's late. I'm awake.

I never do well if Brandon falls asleep first, which he did tonight...very quickly.

So as I lay in bed staring into the pitch black, I got thinking of emails that needed written and things I was going to do, and people I wanted to look for on facebook.

The computer called. I answered.

While browsing through facebook, names shot back and forth inside my brain...Do I know this person? Is this name made up? Was this the maiden or married name? What is THAT person's name? What is so and so's LAST name??? How can I find someone when I don't remember their last name?

It's driving me nuts.

I have SUCH a drive to reconnect with people from a certain time in my life. This time was the best time of my life. I think about it often...the place, the people, my involvement in life and school and friends. And there is very much a part of me that misses that. My time there ended rather abruptly and I don't think I have ever resolved that...I wish I could go back. I wish I could finish things out and close that chapter with the happy ending instead of torn out pages.

But most of all I wish I could clear out the cobwebs that have been filling my memory for the past 11 years and just REMEMBER who married who and what so and so's last name is...

I just want to put a part of me back in that time...to not be forgotten too...to feel like those years that meant so much to me actually meant something to all those people I was surrounded with.

And I wish I had made myself label on all my pictures what everyone's name was.

Sigh.

Some things I don't want to forget.

I didn't realize my poor blog had been neglected the past day or two...I had been storing all this information in my head and planned on writing last night. But I got busy...I made steps to being more in control of my unorganized chaos and worked on editing some of the many photo shoots I did last week. I was productive!

And so here it is, 6:00 a.m. I sit awake while my 2 little guys are awake...and sick...and watching TV with daddy. My sweet girl is asleep. And we've got quite the day ahead of us.

But I just had to stop and record a couple things.

Oh my little ones get funnier every day. They constantly are making me laugh with their defiance or their facial expressions or their words...

The other day I was putting the kids new pictures on the wall. I had also been cleaning up the room, and it WAS looking much better than before. Jenna came in the room and looked around, and then said,

Jenna: Mom. This living room is looking SO good!

Me: REALLY? Thanks! Why do you think it looks good?

Jenna: Because my new picture is on the wall, and I'm just adorable!

hahaha...oh I laughed so hard!


And the past few nights she has put the boys to bed...at her insistance. I am quite surprised though, because they never make a peep after she leaves the room. She has the magic touch...

Her bedtime routines consist of her going up on Kaden's bed and singing him "The Goodnight Song" and then she climbs down and lays on Spencer's bed and sings it to him. And then she usually picks up random pieces o Taylor Swift songs and belts those out.

She then says something like, "okay boys. Good night. Stay in bed"

And they do.

Even when she put them both to bed at 7 p.m. on the dot.

She's growing up, that little Jenna...my little girl. :)

Carlson sneak peak!

Danny and Crystal....a Sneak peak for you guys!! Thanks for checking out a whole new place with me--it was beautiful there!

LUCKY!

Last night I went to sleep at 9:30 p.m. Miracle of miracle. But I was just plain EXHAUSTED.

I slept from then until 7:00 a.m.

That's 9.5 hours of sleep. Pure, blissful sleep.

Jenna had the day off of school so we played this morning...and after lunch EVERYONE went down for naps. All 3 kids. I can't believe they are all sleeping right now.

That left me free for a date with my laundry and a cheesy Hallmark movie...

Got the Cafe Rio Sweet pork in the crockpot, my living room is clean, laundry done...

And I am feelin' pretty lucky today.

Needed: An organization intervention

I wouldn't say that I have always been an organized person, but I WOULD say that I have been more on the ball than I have lately (as in the past SEVERAL months)

I wish I knew what my problem was. I wish I had an office all to myself to keep bills and papers organized. I wish I had an assistant to remind me of my appointments and to-do's. I wish I could keep these things stored in my brain corresponding with the correct time and date. I wish I could be prepared ahead of time. I wish I didn't lose papers...lots of papers. All with one special note written on them. I wish my kids wouldn't color in my brand new planner...every time I get one. And I wish my organizational notebook wouldn't turn into a random sheets of art paper and torn out papers to put in special places that I forget.

I wish.

But it's beyond wishing now. It's a MUST...for my sanity. For my survival.

I must figure out a way to keep tabs on my life again. I must figure out a way to remember appointments, to get things written down in a central location. I must figure out how to stop thinking I will remember things that I really end up forgetting.

And I need your help.

Clearly I am not in a position to have my own office and organizational space. Instead I have a computer armoire that doesn't lock in the living room. This is where the kids play computer, where papers get set, where life gets shuffled and forgotten. And then there's my calendar. Instead of being nicely placed next to my desk in the living room, it's through the kitchen door, past the fridge, down 2 stairs and by the back door. Basically nowhere convenient.

I have file drawers upstairs in my room for bills after they are paid, but I have found that lately some bills have gone missing before I pay them...and I forget that I need to track down who moved them. And...you know the story.

I just have too many places to have to put things and not enough memory.

I am tired of forgetting appointments and paperwork, and all the stuff that I have to take care of.

What do you do? What works for you?

How can I get things on track again?

Trick or Treat...

Just a quick recap of our Halloween 2009 festivities. We had a nice, relaxing day...well, a day with no place to be necessarily...so we hung out and home and I ran errands. In the evening, we had our traditional Halloween Mummy Pizzas for dinner (a small pita with sauce on top, and pieces of cheesesticks laid on top--with 2 olive eyes--baked at 350 for about 8 minutes) which were tasty!

And then we got all dressed up for the trick or treating! (I say we...I mean the kids). :)

I am finally getting a picture of Jenna's costume up. Of all the endless possibilities of cute costumes out there, she chose to be a witch. To be very honest, I was quite bummed. A witch? That's it? Sigh.

I made her a cute skirt and we found a lacy leotard at a thrift store for .50 cents. Simple. A very simple witch costume. But I actually love how the skirt turned out... :) The top layer was a see through fabric that had velvety spider webs on it.

And once we were all dressed up and ready to roll, we headed out to meet our other little companion trick-or-treater...GRACE the caterpillar! :)

Spencer was a Monkey. Again. YES, he was this last year. Yes it's a repeat. But I wasn't going to buy a new costume when we had a perfectly good one ready to use...we don't have the money right now and he knows no difference. Maybe next year he will be able to tell me what he wants...and then we will go for something new and exciting! :) In the meantime...he is a cute monkey.

It was a colder halloween than we have had since we lived here...which was kind of a downer since usually the whole block sits outside to pass out candy. But we hit up the houses on our block that were sitting outside or had their doors open...and then we went home for baths and bedtime.

Was a great day, all in all....and now we just have to figure out what to do with all this candy!

Happy Halloween!